20 Most Recent Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop - Page 6 Questions & Answers

it sounds as if your RAM is slightly loose what I would do is open up the machine (with it switched off, of course) and reseat the RAM (i.e. take it out and put it back in. Hope this helps. If not send me a comment indicating the rate of white lights (i.e. 3 lights then a break)

It could be that your RAM needs to be reseated i.e. the RAM could have come loose and just needs to be taken out and put back in again. Hope this helps.

This is a fascinating problem, because there are so many possible culprits... plugins, Quicktime, networking...
Because it only happens on streaming media, because it comes and goes a week at a time, and because you have a satellite connection, my first suspicions fall on your internet service. However, this would be unwieldy to prove. The obvious experiment would be to carry your computer to a friend's place where you could use non-satellite broadband... but you say the problem comes and goes, and I'm assuming there is no single "video from heck" that is always guaranteed to fail, so a failure to fail wouldn't prove very much.
Another good experiment would be for you, during one of your "good weeks," to disconnect your satellite modem's coax cables while you are streaming one of these videos to see if it triggers the same failure at the Mac. (Powering the modem down wouldn't provide the same failure mode.)
Another: Quicktime Player (as well as VLC) has an "open URL" option. If you use that instead of a browser during a "bad week" to view videos, does the failure also occur? (That would rule out the plugins.)
One thing I can advise you: don't bother running disk repair, this problem isn't anywhere near your disk.
I wish I could point a finger and say "your problem is definitely here," but that isn't going to happen with this problem. The best I can do is provide some tests to help you narrow it down.

Here is the problem: we have no means of separating valid requests of this type from requests posted by people with stolen computers. When work of this type arrives at our shop, we have the means to unlock the Mac, but we will perform content and serial number checks to ensure the machine was acquired properly. And yes, we have identified stolen machines in this manner. Even stipulating that you are an honest owner, posting unlocking instructions here would empower other readers who are not. I recommend you bring your machine in to an Apple-certified establishment and have the work performed for you

Hi there
You'll need your install disk.

1. Start up from a Mac OS X Install CD (one whose version is closest the the version of Mac OS X installed). You should first disable Open Firmware password protection, if it is enabled. Hold the C key as the computer starts.
2. Choose Reset Password from the Installer menu (or Utilities menu in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger). Tip: If you don't see this menu or menu choice, you're probably not started from the CD yet.
3. Select your Mac OS X hard disk volume.
4. Set the user name of your original administrator account.
   
   Important:Do not select "System Administrator (root)". This is actually areference to the root user. Do not confuse it with a normaladministrator account.
5. Enter a new password.
6. Click Save.

All computers will shut them selves off or crash when fans are failing, or have failed. Cooling fans are plugged into the motherboard, and firmware on the MB keeps track of the system fans, along with everything else. If a system fan is failing, or has failed, the signal is sent to shut down. Some PC's will shut down cleanly, others give error messages, and some just freeze up. Of course, Bad RAM, video cards, and hard drives with bad sectors, can also cause problems like you have discribed.
I would write down any error messages, and beep codes, and then look them up online for a place to start.

It sounds like the system is corrupted. What I would do is to get your instal disk to boot up holding down the c key on your keyboard. Once you have booted up go to the file menu and run disk utility to verify and repair the hard drive. Then go to the instal menu and instal a fresh system remembering to preserve the users data so you do not wipe anything. Hopefully this will work.

To start up in Safe Mode, hold down the shift key and then startyour Mac. Safe Mode takes a while, so don’t be alarmed when you don’tsee the desktop right away. While you’re waiting, the operating systemis verifying the directory structure of your startup volume, andrepairing it, if necessary. It will also delete some of the startupcaches that may also be preventing your Mac from starting successfully.
Once the desktop appears, you can access and run disk utility http://macs.about.com/od/applications/ss/firstaid.htm tool just as you normally would. When First Aid is finished, restart your Mac normally.
Please note that not all applications and OS X features will workwhen you boot into Safe Mode. You should use this startup mode only fortroubleshooting and not for running day-to-day applications.
Boot Into Single User Mode Start up your Mac and immediately hold down the command key plus theletter ‘s’ key (command + s). Your Mac will start up in a specialenvironment that looks like an old-fashioned command line interface(because that’s exactly what it is).
At the command line prompt, type the following:
/sbin/fsck –fyPress return or enter after you type the above line. Fsck will startand display status messages about your startup disk. When it finallyfinishes (this can take a while), you will see one of two messages. Thefirst indicates that no problems were found.
** The volume xxxx appears to be OK.The second message indicates that problems were encountered and fsck attempted to correct the errors on your hard drive.

There are many ways to eject a DVD. Try this.

Shut down the computer (complete power off, not restart)
Hold down the left button (Apple mouse?)
Push the power button
Keep holding the mouse button down until it either ejects or the grey pinwheel appears. (It's not an instant process)

Usually, eject/F12 will open the drive up. If that does not work try. Open terminal and use the command "drutil tray eject"

You can also try command-option O + F and type"eject cd" If none of this works your drive may be bad or the power cord is loose. You will need to open it up or seek professional service.

A folder with a "?" means that computer is unable to find either a bootable device or OS.

Check for loose power cord -- both ends. Check for faulty or switched power outlet (move to a different outlet).
It's doubtful this is a hardware problem in the G5. A hardware problem would conceivably turn the power off, but it isn't likely to turn it back on.
Realize that in System Preferences it is possible to program many desktop models to shut down and start up at certain times on certain days. I am assuming your report means that your machine starts up in quick succession after shutting down, which makes this possibility remote.

Hi Allen
Try starting up holding down the shift key - keep holding as it may take some time (if you get to 10 minutes though I would give up).
If it starts up OK let it run for a few minutes then shut it down completely and do a normal start. Does it still start?
If not, Start it up from your system DVD and run disk utility - repair drive.
Try starting normally again.
If it still doesn't work you may have to reistall. Don't erase, just do an archive and install and then see what happens.

It's not likely that you have moved something important as it's all in the one folder and the OS will prevent you from deleting that folder unless you are started up from a different drive.
I think the best thing to do in this case (if you haven't got anything like Drive Genius, DiskWarrior or TechTool) is to start up from your installation DVD are run disk Utility from there. If that doesn't fix it then you may have to reinstall from the DVD and redo all your updates. (Don't erase - just do the archive and install routine.)

I'm using a cheap PC USB mouse on MacPro since 2008. If You have OSX Tiger or Leopard, then no adjusting needed. Try this and send me a feedback.

Go to System Preferences, then Sound, then Output. Select "Internal Speakers/Built-in Output".

Try forcing the scroll wheel up and down and pressing it in...... It is jammed in some way right now....... Happened to me too!

Had the same problem. The password is in the software. You need the EXACT same OS install disks. Check the web as to the buttons you need to push when starting and it will boot off the CD. Then you need to do something that erases the startup password, under some TAB on the startup screen.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
Passwords are CASE sensitive.
Adam and adam and ADAM are different !

Is the hard drive SATA or IDE. On IDE, I know you can use delpart. Locate a SATA tool to wipe the partition of SATA drives. Install LEOPARD as usual then after rebooting.

probably bad earphone, or cheaper, pulled or seperated wire in the phone. Try different earphone.

there can be various reasons, you may need to replace the power supply of the machine